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With all the new technologies appearing in dentistry, it’s challenging to sort out what brings value to the practice, both from a production standpoint and by what is most appealing to patients. So next Wednesday, March 8 at 11am PST, I’m doing a webinar with data and insights that can point you in the direction that will work best for your practice, and maximize your technology investments.

The webinar will be based on a survey of 500 dental professionals nationwide. Here’s some of what you’ll learn:

Which advanced technologies should I integrate into my practice next?

How can I promote my investment in technology to attract quality patients?

How quickly can I get the return on my investment and grow my business?

Should I invest in new technology if I am planning to sell my practice?

Next Wednesday, February 8th, my old friend Dr. Howard Farran and I will take a deep dive into the raging waters of building a dental team! You can be sure that it will be a lively discussion, and will give you some practical ideas on creating a team that will make your practice thrive in this ever-changing economy. It’s a free webinar (retail value $1 million+) so be sure to join in at 11am Pacific, 2pm Eastern, etc. Register here to join the fun!

Also, if you can’t watch at those times, if you register you will be sent a full video recording of the webinar, so don’t miss out, register today!

In my previous post, I explained how to make patient testimonial videos. One of the most important Internet locations to post those videos is on your own practice’s YouTube channel. Yep, just like ABC, CBS and Fox, you can have your very own channel for people to watch.

Why do it? Because YouTube is the second most active site on the Internet, second only to Google itself, (which owns YouTube.) And people love watching videos. More than 50% of the time on smartphones is spent watching videos.

It’s so pervasive that there’s a battle going on between YouTube and Facebook for video dominance. The good thing about this competition is you can play on both sides and come out winning either way. And beyond that, there is the Google Juice (SEO) that videos generate.

So how do you make your own channel, and how do you make it interesting?

First, you must have a Google+ account. I know, I’ve told you not to bother with regular posting on Google+ anymore, but that refers to social media activity. You still need to have a practice profile there, so that when people search for you on Google all your information comes up. If you haven’t done that yet, go to Google Accounts and do that first, before I get angry. (You don’t need a Google+/Google Place account to have a YouTube channel; you just need to have one if you’re a dental practice in the 21st century.)

I’m not going to give you a frame-by-frame explanation on how to do create your channel, because you need to learn to do this stuff by reading what’s on the site itself and finding what you need. But I’ll tell you what you should be doing, step by step.

1. Go to YouTube. Sign in with your Gmail address. If you haven’t created a YouTube account yet, you can do that as you sign in. Make sure it is the same Gmail as for your Google+ account. If you have a Google+ page, YouTube is going to drag in the images from that. You’ll notice that it looks a lot like a Facebook page, only with a wider, narrower image. So don’t be afraid to be consistent in your look and use the same panoramic photo, and put your practice logo in the thumbnail. You can always adjust or replace them in your Google+ page and it will automatically adapt.

2. Name Your Channel. You can name your channel whatever you want, but generally it’s your practice name.

Add a description of your channel, which is simply a quick description of your practice and it’s location and contact information. Mine looks like this:

3. Upload Videos. Anything you have already done:

Patient testimonials

Practice tour

Practice parties, holiday events, etc.

Dentist’s statement of purpose

Treatment explanations

Entitle and describe your videos individually. Your settings should include making the video public and allowing comments.

4. Tag your Videos. This is perhaps the most important part of the video, maybe even more than the title. Click the on the pencil icon and you will get to “Information and Settings,” and then there is a box to add tags, where the red arrow is pointing.

Click to enter the “tags” box and then just start typing relevant words. You can add as many tags as you want. You can’t do too many. They should include your practice name, your dentist’s name, and words like: dentistry; teeth; smiles; dental health; and anything that relates to the video, like braces or implants. Two or three words in a single tag is not a problem. These are critical because this is how Google finds your video if someone is searching a specific topic. (You don’t think Google is watching your videos and determining what’s in them, do you? They won’t be able to do that until next year!)

5. Create a Playlist. On the left side of your Channel Page, click on “Library” and then on the button that says, “New Playlist.” What this allows you to do is suggest what video the viewer should watch next, in what sequence. Otherwise Google will do that for you, and that’s not necessarily what you want to happen, because it won’t be one of your videos. Click on “Playlist Settings” and make the playlist “public,” and I also suggest in the “Ordering” that you show them by “most popular.” Then click “add videos” and all the videos will appear. Highlight them all and then add them into the playlist. Eventually you will make multiple playlists, like when you have a lot of patient testimonials, but for now let’s just one done.

6. Add Relevant Outside Videos to Your Playlist. You can add other videos that you like to your playlist. They don’t have to be all yours. Essentially, you are creating “programming” because you want them to stay on your channel, even if the video is made by someone else. This is what the playlist allows you to do. Make your playlist more interesting by suggesting other videos that relate to dentistry in some way.

7. Shoot more videos. Add them to your playlist. You should be shooting more testimonials all the time. But also, do videos explaining your technology and procedures or treatments if you think you might be any good at it. That way you own them, and don’t have to borrow someone else’s.

Some other notes:

Facebook prefers it if you upload a video directly to them, not embed a YouTube video into your post. So why make them unhappy? Just upload it two times: once to Facebook, and once to YouTube.

You can embed your YouTube videos into your website, if you have a dynamic one. If you don’t. Shame on you. Check out WebDirector.

Still can’t figure it out? Then search YouTube for a video on “How to Set Up a YouTube Channel.” There’s a YouTube how-to video for everything!

I’m continually being asked the best way to do patient testimonial videos, so I’m going to lay it out for you.

People ask in part because I am always saying that patient videos are the most powerful marketing tools available, and perhaps the most versatile. You can post them on your website, on your YouTube channel, on Facebook, and in your Google and Yelp profiles. And people love watching videos. Facebook and Snapchat both have over 8 billion video views a day. Yes, I said billion!

Requesting and making videos should be someone’s specific responsibility in the office, and in some ways everyone’s. Every team member should be willing to request this from a patient they believe will do a good testimonial. But every office should have one point person–the Facebook Geek, I call them–that is in charge of regularly doing these, like one a week, and then posting them in all the appropriate places.

Here are the steps:

STEP ONE: ASK FOR A TESTIMONIAL

Identify a patient who might be a good candidate, either because they just had a great result, or they’ve already praised the practice in some way. If they just said, “You are all so nice here. I’m so happy I found you.” That’s your cue to say, “We’d love it if you would do a short video saying that for us to use on social media. You know how important that is nowadays.” Don’t say crazy stuff like, “Please help us promote our practice,” or, “We really need your help getting new patients.” Don’t sound desperate.

If the person is reluctant, just say, “If you don’t like it we won’t use it. But all you have to do is take 30 seconds and tell us what it’s like to be a patient of ours.” If they’re still hesitant, then back off.

STEP TWO: RECORD ON A SMARTPHONE

This is what makes the testimonial real and credible: You didn’t make a big production out of it. You made it like a video that they do themselves all the time. Using a smartphone camera is also less intimidating to the patient. One more important thing: shoot it in horizontal mode [I’m amending this from my original post] because in most media it will look much better. The one challenge is that 70% of Facebook viewers are watching on mobile phones, and people don’t like to turn them. This is why Facebook’s new Canvas ad format is a good example of the direction this is all going. The solution is to shoot through Instagram in horizontal mode, and then you can modify the shape if you want to.

You’re looking for four things from the patient:

sincerity–you want them to be believable;

enthusiasm–low energy is not persuasive or watchable;

brevity–it should be at the MOST, 60 seconds long. Closer to 30 is better;

the practice/dentist’s name–this “labels” the video internally.

WARNING: Don’t let them talk about their treatment in the video! This qualifies as “patient health information,” and this is where the HIPAA challenge arises. It would require you to create a release from the patient describing the specific treatment and who the audience would be that would see it. Too much trouble. The fact that they agreed to make the video would seem to me to qualify as a release, but the government doesn’t see it that way.

However, the patient can make a video on their own phone and post it to their Facebook wall. Patients can say whatever they want in their own posts on social media, because they can’t violate their own HIPAA. If they do it that way, then you can share that video on your practice page.

STEP THREE: SHOW THE VIDEO TO THE PATIENT FOR APPROVAL

If you did more than one take, ask them which one they like. But make sure they approve you using it.

STEP FOUR: GET A SIGNED RELEASE

If you don’t already have one with the patient, get one, to use their image and video in all media, including social media, in perpetuity. If they won’t sign one, then don’t use the video. If you have an account with HR for Health, they can provide one, otherwise use LegalZoom.

STEP FIVE: ASK THEM TO SHARE IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

If they did it on their phone, obviously they can share it on Instagram or Facebook.

STEP SIX: POST IT ON ALL YOUR DIGITAL LOCATIONS

Website (your website should have a separate page for patient testimonials, with a link from the home page. If not, read this blog.)

YouTube channel

Yelp profile

Google+ page

Facebook (start with Instagram and have it post automatically–the Facebook geek knows what I’m talking about)

LinkedIn

Twitter

As a huge motivational bonus, show them to your team in morning huddles. Letting everyone know how much they are appreciated by patients is a great way to start the day.

Here are examples of the right and wrong way to do videos:

The above one mentions the treatment, cost, negative aspects of the experience, but is in the right framing–horizontal.

This one doesn’t mention treatment, is positive and energetic, and says the dentist’s name. But it’s shot vertically, so it’s only good for Facebook mobile. Almost there.

Make it a habit to do videos. As I said, they are the most credible and versatile marketing tool you have or your practice. Do one today!

The moment many of you have been waiting for is here: my latest book, released last September, is now available on Audible! We have found that Audible is the best medium for an audio book, and you can find it right here: http://amzn.to/1T0YCug.

The price is $19.95, and unfortunately because it is Amazon I can’t discount it for anyone. 🙁

It will NOT be released on CD, as it has become an archaic (and expensive) medium, and Audible accounts are free, and even have a subscription model.

Now that I’ve managed to get this done, I promise to start blogging regularly again!

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Fred's new book, Becoming Remarkable, takes your practice to the next level, and helps you create the practice patients can't resist talking about. Fred's first book, Everything is Marketing newly revised for 2014, takes you step by step through your practice, revealing how everything you say or do communicates a message to your patients.
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